Chapter 201: Pursued by the Stalker

Chapter 201: Pursued by the Stalker

Inside one of the stadium’s hallways.

Joe and Kurt make their way through the dark hallway. Joe holds a bolt of lightning in his hand to light the hall.

“Is the power out?” Kurt asks. “Why is it so dark in here?”

“I’m going to guess Zonbi just prefers the dark,” Joe replies. “That said, I’m concerned about that Roxl guy that Nick told Zeth and Sasha about.”

They reach a door and open it, entering into a hallway with dim lights, but bright enough for Joe to end his lightning bolt.

“Looks like we got some doors in this hall,” Joe notes. “What are you thinking here?”

“I do think we should check the side doors first,” Kurt answers. “We don’t have an end destination. We’re just investigating all that we can.”

Joe nods just before they walk up to a side door on the right side. They open it and enter, closing the door behind them. The room has no lights on, leaving it completely dark.

“I can’t see anything,” Kurt says. “Joe, we need a lightning bolt again.”

Joe forms a lightning bolt in his hand once again, creating light in the room. Their eyes widen as they see what the room holds. There is nothing but a large pile of corpses. Kurt and Joe gasp.

“Zonbi didn’t zombify these corpses!?” Joe says somewhat loudly.

Kurt pushes his hand against Joe’s shoulder, urgently whispering, “Shhh!! Keep your voice down!!”

“Sorry!” Joe whispers. “I hope Nick isn’t among these corpses.”

“We’ve only met him a few times over these past six months, but none of these corpses look like him,” Kurt says.

Before they can say anything else, they hear increasingly louder thuds from the hall. They anxiously grit their teeth as the door slams open, Roxl now glaring into the room. He easily notices Kurt and Joe. “Tournament participants? You shouldn’t be here!” He reaches toward them but they successfully avoid his grasp.

With no choice, Kurt and Joe slip past him into the hallway.

“This is a violation of tournament rules!” Roxl growls before giving chase.

“What do we do now?” Joe asks as they run.

“We’re smaller than him so theoretically we can gain distance and lose him,” Kurt replies as he winces in pain from his recovering injuries.

They slam open the next door and quickly close it behind them, buying them a few more moments to turn left at a T-intersection. However, it takes only seconds for Roxl to barge through the door and uses his sharp senses to hear their steps to the left.

“That wasn’t good enough, unfortunately!” Kurt groans.

Joe stares forward as they run. He thinks, “Hold on. I can feel a cold breeze coming from somewhere up ahead. That might mean…”

Joe turns his head toward Kurt. “I got an idea if my speculation is correct. Follow me.”

“Right!”

“It’s just up ahead!” Joe thinks.

They open the next door on their right and enter a cold storage room. The room has numerous metal pods scattered about. Joe pulls Kurt to the door’s side.

Joe holds up his right hand, signaling Kurt to wait.

Joe thinks, “As soon as he steps in…”

A few seconds later, Roxl charges in. In that moment, Joe grabs Kurt’s hand with one hand and the door handle with the other, stepping out into the hall while slamming the door shut. He holds his hands forward and releases a continuous stream of ice, quickly covering the entire door. The ice is thick and reinforced by the cold air within the cold storage room.

Joe grins. “With how cold that room is, this ice will take him a while to break through. Let’s go.”

Kurt nods as he and Joe move on. “Great strategy.”

***

Soon after.

Joe and Kurt enter a hall with a left turn with a bright source of light coming that direction. Before they turn the corner, they hear a voice.

“You gotta be honest wid me, Nick. Why did you betray me?”

Kurt and Joe widen their eyes just before peeking around the corner. The source of light is from a room with its door open at the end of the hall by a right turn, lighting up the hallway. In the room, Nick is strapped to a chair while Glen stands in front of him.

“I had to protect my family,” Nick says as he winces in pain. “They were more important. How many times do I have to tell you this?”

Glen, smiling with his mouth slightly agape, removes his cigar from between his teeth. “Now, dat’s funny. Dat’s real funny. In fact, dat’s so funny, I forgot to laugh.”

Glen uses a whip and lashes it against Nick’s abdomen, causing him to scream in pain.

Kurt and Joe begin glaring as they watch.

Glen paces around the room. “I told you to be honest wid me. No one values deir family dat much. You entered my organization knowing betrayal pays a heavy price. So deir must be someding else… Perhaps a rival organization paid you off?”

“I’m being honest with you!” Nick screams. “I had to keep my family safe so I left!”

Glen immediately whips Nick again, causing him to scream once again.

Joe and Kurt clench their fists.

Glen stands between them and a chance to rescue Nick.

Chapter 201 END

To be Continued in Chapter 202: Bracket Chaos